Albert of Saxony
| title = King of Saxony | image =Nicola Perscheid - König Albert von Sachsen vor 1902.jpg | imgw = 200px | reign =29 October 1873 – 19 June 1902 | caption = Photograph of Albert of Saxony (1899) | predecessor =John | successor =George | succession = King of Saxony | spouse =Carola of Vasa | house =House of Wettin | father =John of Saxony | mother =Amalie Auguste of Bavaria | birth_date = | birth_place = Dresden | death_date = | death_place = Sibyllenort | place of burial =Katholische Hofkirche | religion = Roman Catholicism |}} Albert (full name: Frederick Augustus Albert Anton Ferdinand Joseph Karl Maria Baptist Nepomuk Wilhelm Xaver Georg Fidelis) (Dresden, 23 April 1828 – Schloss Sibyllenort (Szczodre), 19 June 1902) was a King of Saxony and a member of the House of Wettin. He was the eldest son of Prince John, (who succeeded his brother Frederick Augustus II on the Saxon throne as King John in 1854) by his wife Amalie Auguste of Bavaria. Albert had a successful military career leading Saxon troops which participated in the First War of Schleswig, the Austro-Prussian War, and the Franco-Prussian War. His reign as king was largely uneventful. Life Military career Albert's education, as usual with German princes, concentrated to a great extent on military matters, but he attended lectures at the University of Bonn. His first experience of warfare came in 1849, when he served as a captain in the First War of Schleswig against Denmark. When the Austro-Prussian War broke out in 1866, Albert then Crown Prince (German: Kronprinz), took up the command of the Saxon forces opposing the Prussian Army of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia. No attempt was made to defend Saxony; the Saxons fell back into Bohemia and effected a junction with the Austrians. They took a prominent part in the battles by which the Prussians forced the line of the Jizera and in the Battle of Jičín. The Crown Prince, however, succeeded in effecting the retreat in good order, and in the decisive Battle of Königgratz (3 July 1866) he held the extreme left of the Austrian position. The Saxons maintained their post with great tenacity, but were involved in the disastrous defeat of their allies. During these operations the Crown Prince won the reputation of a thorough soldier; after peace was made and Saxony had entered the North German Confederation, he gained the command of the Saxon army, which had now become the XII army corps of the North German army, and in this position carried out the necessary re-organisation. He proved a firm adherent of the Prussian alliance. On the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 he again commanded the Saxons, who were included in the 2nd army under Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, his old opponent. At the Battle of Gravelotte, they formed the extreme left of the German army, and with the Prussian Guard carried out the attack on St Privat, the final and decisive action in the battle. In the re-organisation of the army which accompanied the march towards Paris the Crown Prince gained a separate command over the 4th army (Army of the Meuse) consisting of the Saxons, the Prussian Guard corps, and the IV (Prussian Saxony) corps. He was succeeded in command of the XII corps by his brother Prince George, who had served under him in Bohemia. Albert took a leading part in the operations which preceded the battle of Sedan, the 4th army being the pivot on which the whole army wheeled round in pursuit of Mac-Mahon; and the actions of Buzancy and Beaumont on 29 and 30 August 1870 were fought under his direction; in the Battle of Sedan itself (1 September 1870), with the troops under his orders, Albert carried out the envelopment of the French on the east and north. Albert's conduct in these engagements won for him the complete confidence of the army, and during the Siege of Paris his troops formed the north-east section of the investing force. After the conclusion of the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871), he was left in command of the German army of occupation, a position which he held till the fall of the Paris Commune. On the conclusion of peace he was made an inspector-general of the army and a field marshal. King On the death of his father King John on 29 October 1873, the Crown Prince succeeded to the throne as King Albert. His reign proved uneventful, and he took little public part in politics, devoting himself to military affairs, in which his advice and experience were of the greatest value, not only to the Saxon corps but to the German army in general. In the 1870s Albert initiated the build of a Dresden suburb, the Albertstadt. At that time it was the biggest coherent barrack arrangement of Germany. Near the former suburb other buildings and places are still named after him until now: the Albertbrücke, the Alberthafen, the Albertplatz and the Albertinum. In 1879 he initiated the re-building of the Saint Afra School in Meissen. In 1897 he was appointed arbitrator between the claimants for the Principality of Lippe. Also, during his government, the Saxon monarchy became constitutional. He was the 954th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Austria in 1850, the 776th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1882 and the 95th Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword. Marriage and Succession In Dresden on 18 June 1853 Albert married Princess Carola, daughter of Gustav, Prince of Vasa and granddaughter of Gustav IV Adolf, the second to last king of Sweden of the House of Holstein-Gottorp. Albert died childless and was succeeded by his brother, who became King George. Ancestors Decorations and awards :Grand Master of the following Saxon Orders: * Order of the Rue Crown * Military Order of St. Henry * Royal Order of Albert of Saxony * Civil Order of Saxony :Foreign Honours * Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Austria) * Honorary Knight of the Order of the Garter (United Kingdom) * Knight of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (Kingdom of Sardinia, 1850) * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Kingdom of Sardinia, 1850) * Pour le Mérite (Prussia) * Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (Prussia) * Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd classes (Prussia) * Knight of the Military Order of Maria Theresa (Austrian Empire) * Knight Grand Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph (Bavaria) * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit with Swords (Bavaria) * Knight, 1st class of the Order of the Zähringer Lion (Baden) * Knight 2nd class, Imperial Order of St. George (Russian Empire) The King of Saxony Bird-of-Paradise was named in Albert's honour; the Queen Carola's Bird-of-Paradise was named for his wife. References * Konrad Sturmhoefel: König Albert von Sachsen. Ein Lebensbild. Voigtländer, Leipzig 1898. * Georg von Schimpff: König Albert: Fünfzig Jahre Soldat. Baensch, Dresden 1893. * Joseph Kürschner (Hrsg.): König Albert und Sachsenland : eine Festschrift zum 70. Geburtstage und 25jährigen Regierungsjubiläum des Monarchen. Schwarz, Berlin 1898. * Dem Gedächtnis König Alberts von Sachsen, Dresden: v. Zahn & Jaensch, 1902 * Ernst von Körner: König Albert von Sachsen: der Soldat und Feldherr. Oestergaard, Berlin-Schöneberg 1936. * Bernd Rüdiger: Wahre Geschichten um König Albert, Taucha: Tauchaer Verl., 1994 * * Albert Herzog zu Sachsen: Die Wettiner in Lebensbildern. Styria-Verlag, Graz/Wien/Köln 1995, ISBN 3-222-12301-2. * Thomas Eugen Scheerer (Hrsg.): Albert von Sachsen – Kronprinz, Soldat, König. Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr, Dresden 2002. * Arbeitskreis sächsische Militärgeschichte (Hrsg.): Sibyllenort und König Albert von Sachsen: Sonderheft zum 100. Todestag von König Albert. Arbeitskreis Sächsische Militärgeschichte, Dresden 2003. Category:1828 births Category:1902 deaths Category:People from Dresden Category:German Roman Catholics Category:Field marshals of Saxony Category:Field marshals of the German Empire Category:House of Wettin Category:Kings of Saxony Category:People of the Austro-Prussian War Category:German military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War Category:University of Bonn alumni Category:Burials at Katholische Hofkirche Category:Roman Catholic monarchs Category:Crown Princes of Saxony Category:Extra Knights Companion of the Garter Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece Category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Second Degree Category:Members of the First Chamber of the Diet of the Kingdom of Saxony Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Military William Order Category:Knights of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rue Crown Category:Recipients of the Military Order of St. Henry Category:Recipients of the Albert Order Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1870) Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross, 1st class Category:Knights of the Military Order of Maria Theresa Category:Grand Crosses of the Military Order of Max Joseph Category:Grand Crosses of the Military Merit Order (Bavaria) Category:Knights First Class of the Order of the Zähringer Lion Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Category:Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross